This message was shared by Apostle Kathryn Krick, Lead Pastor/Apostle of 5F Church in Los Angeles, CA, on December 21, 2025. To watch the full video, scroll to the bottom of this post. We pray this teaching blesses you and equips you to walk as a powerful vessel of God.

Matthew 2:1

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

“We saw His star.” Jesus had a star, and God had given the Wise Men this revelation: “I’m calling you to make a long journey, to bring the most precious of gifts, and to come and worship Jesus the King, the Messiah, who will be born.” 

Jesus had a star in Him, and that star in the sky was a symbol of what Jesus had in the spiritual realm. Stars are very far away, and the fact that we can see them shining says a lot about how bright they are. They pierce through the darkness, and our Jesus is the light of the world who overcomes all darkness. So that spiritual star overcomes all darkness in this world—it destroys all the works of the devil. And that spiritual star that Jesus carried attracted the favor of the wise men. 

Jesus was beloved, favored, and honored. God opened doors and caused people to come and hear the word He was speaking and to receive His ministry. Jesus had this great favor upon His life, from the time the Wise Men brought him this honor, this sacrifice. He also had supernatural favor, where the devil could never get Him. God protected Him whenever the devil would try to strike and take him out, such as when Herod tried to kill Him. God kept protecting Him and giving Him supernatural favor. Favor includes supernatural protection. So when people try to stop you or hurt you or keep you from doing what God has called you to do, His supernatural favor and protection will come over you and will always be upon you, and “no weapon formed against you shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17).” They will never be able to stop you. That’s the favor that the Father gave Jesus on this earth.

Jesus had a star. The Father, Holy Spirit, and Jesus are three in one. So when you give your life to Jesus, Jesus lives inside of you, the Father lives in you, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Emmanuel, God with us—not next to us—but with us, within us, inside us. Jesus is inside of you! This is the greatest miracle. If you have given your life to Jesus, He’s literally in you today, right now. That means that the brightest light in the world, Jesus Christ, that overcomes all darkness, is living inside of you. He’s one with you. That’s why He now calls you, He calls us, the light of the world. We are the light of the world only because God lives in us. We are the light of the world because we are vessels that allow God to move freely through us. That is why we are the light of the world—not because we are so special, but because we are vessels for the light of the world, Jesus, to flow through.

Now that God lives in you and you are the light of the world, and Jesus has a star, that means you have a star in the spiritual realm. What is the star? First, the star that you carry is God’s love for you. God’s love for you is what makes you shine. People can look at you and see you shining. They can see that you are loved by God, that you are favored by God, that you are blessed. They can see that you have joy, that miracles happen in your life, that doors open up for you. You have an abundant life, and they can see that God loves you. In the sky, we see that the stars are different sizes, and there are some stars that stand out more than others. Some stars appear bigger, and those are the ones that are actually closer to us—that’s why they appear bigger. 

God loves every single person on this earth more than anybody in the world could love anyone. That’s how he loves every single person, even someone who is far from Him or who is in the middle of so much sin and evil. He loves them more than everyone in the world combined could love somebody: that’s God’s love. 

Jacob, the father of Joseph, had a special love for Joseph. This was not him being a bad parent, but he had a special love, a special favor, for Joseph. Joseph went after his father’s heart, and he touched his father’s heart. So although Jacob loved all of his sons, Joseph touched his heart more, so there was even more extraordinary love that came upon Joseph. Jacob covered him with the coat of many colors. He covered him with this beautiful coat because he had an even greater love for Joseph. So Joseph was like a bigger star in the sky. 

There are believers who are not after God’s heart. Actually, they are far from God’s heart. But then there are other believers who are like Joseph, who are near to God’s heart. They are really after God’s heart, not just in word, but with a pure heart. They seek after what matters to God, what is important to God. They understand that His work, loving His people, the power of God that releases deliverance and healing upon this earth—that is God’s heart; that is what God cares about the most. So those believers don’t just worship with their mouths; they worship with their lives, with everything that is within them. They give themselves to the work of God. They truly serve God, not in a way that they want, not in a comfortable way or in the traditional church ways of serving God, but they serve God according to how God wants them to be vessels of Him, and that means seasons of persecution, seasons that are not fun, seasons of pure obedience. You’re doing it only because of obedience, and there’s nothing in it for you. So those believers are actually closer to the heart of God because they have chosen to come closer to God’s heart. God hasn’t randomly chosen favorites, but they have chosen to come closer to God’s heart, so now they appear bigger in the sky. 

This is how you are in the spiritual realm. You have a star, and you are like a star. As the light of the world, you are like a star in this dark world that we live in. You either shine brightly or you shine dimly or somewhere in the middle, but God wants you to shine brightly, He wants you to be a huge star, so that people's eyes go to you, and you lead them to Jesus. Their eyes go to you because they think, “Wow! I want that. That’s beautiful. There is joy in this person that I don’t have. I want that. This person is blessed; this person is favored; this person has abundant life; this person has miracles happening in their life all the time. I want that.” That’s the purpose of why you shine. That’s the purpose of you being a big star, so people can look at you and find Jesus in you. That’s the way that God has designed it: that people would find Him through us being the light of the world pointing to Him, rather than God appearing to every person physically or speaking to them in an audible voice. This is the main way that God has chosen to reveal himself to his people, to reveal his love and power: through our light, through our star.

So your star is two parts: it’s the love that God has for you, so that when people see you they’ll think, “They’re favored. God must really love them.” The love God has for you stands out; it’s obvious, and people take note. It makes them curious and hungry to think, “I want favor like that! I want things to work out in my life like that! I want joy like that!” 

Secondly, your star is the anointing that God has poured out upon you—the anointing that God has poured upon your gifts, your abilities, your attributes. So once you have chosen to come close to God’s heart, God sees He can entrust you with anointing, with His power. He has given you every single one of your giftings, and He wants to pour His anointing upon those giftings and make them supernatural giftings.

For example, if your gifting is singing, He causes it to be that when you sing, people don’t just enjoy it, but they’re changed. The power of God moves through you. Some of you have gifts to share your heart about what God has done, and God wants to move through you so that people are not only inspired, but they encounter God through your words. This applies for every single gifting, every single ability, that maybe you don’t think is special, but God cares about excellence for His kingdom in every aspect. In the work of God, everything matters, everything contributes to His work shining brighter and brighter, to you being a bigger billboard that people have to come and look at and think, “I have to hear this message. I have to see what people are talking about. I have to see if these testimonies are true. This is shocking; what is this? I have to come and see. I have to click on this video. I have to make a trip and come in person.” Every aspect in which you contribute to the work of God matters. Even those of you who sow into this work of God—it’s because you have sown that we can be in a nice place and do the work of God with excellence. There was a time when we didn’t have this level of excellence, and it was hard to hear the message, and maybe some people didn't click on the livestream because it was hard to listen to or to see clearly. So these things matter. In every aspect of the work of God, God wants excellence; He wants His anointing to be upon it.

So your star shines brightly also because of the anointing upon your life. People see that the things you do with your life, with your gifts, are supernatural. They think, “What is it about it when they do this with their gifting? There’s something different about it. I felt something when this person shared this.” 

When it comes to the work of God, God lifts ministries. He’s lifting 5F Church for His glory, and He’s making us—this work of God—shine brightly, so that people from 167 nations want to plant themselves here at our church. That’s because here in Los Angeles, our stars together, as a collective star, are shining so brightly, glory to God, so that the love of God and the anointing can be seen. People are finding, “I want the real thing. I want the word of God—not the Pharisees' revelation of the word of God, the old wine that just keeps me in religious bondage and keeps me from experiencing the power of God and abundant life. I want the new wine; I need God’s power in my life. I can’t survive without God’s power in my life.”

Glory to God, this is what God has done and what He’s doing here in our church in Los Angeles. He’s made our star shine so brightly that the anointing of God can be seen and desired by people all over the world. It’s what makes doors open for us to do the work of God, what He has called us to do. It’s what makes doors open for us to complete the assignment and the vision that God has given us. It’s what makes registration go beyond what we could ever imagine in São Paulo, Brazil, where we have to get a stadium. This is what is so powerful about being bright stars in the sky. Most people who live in Brazil do not speak fluent English, but look at how brightly, glory to God, our star is shining, that the language barrier doesn't even matter. People see the anointing, and they want it; they need it. They can see the star so brightly—this anointing upon us, upon this church.

Every person is born with a star in the spiritual realm. But when a person wants success and uses their giftings and abilities for their own gain, they open up doors to the devil to pour his supernatural powers and demonic favor upon them. But the blessings of God come without sorrow (Proverbs 10:22). Whenever you go the devil’s way and receive supernatural power through the devil, you will always have sorrow. You will be oppressed by demons. Or you will experience torment in your mind that you have disobeyed God and you are not in His will. Or the devil will cause you to have to give up so many things, to sacrifice for him that it hurts you and other people. Or to achieve these things, the devil helps you but there’s no protection on what you’ve received. But the devil doesn’t love anybody, even those who serve him—he just loves to steal, kill, and destroy from everybody, even those who serve him, (John 10:10)—so one day, the devil steals, kills, and destroys these things that you’ve wanted, that you achieved, and they’re taken from you. 

This is what it means by “the blessings of God come without sorrow” (Proverbs 10:22). When God pours out blessings, when He gives you the desires of your heart, when He makes your dreams come to pass—all of these blessings come without sorrow. They come with supernatural favor and protection and you don’t have to worry and think, “Is the devil going to be able to take them because he’s angry that I have them?” No, you can be at peace. You can rest. The blessings of God come without sorrow (Proverbs 10:22).

When a person has demonic powers to achieve what they want, then their star shines in the world's way. That’s why there are some people in the world that are not believers but it looks like they’re shining. They really stand out. People really like them. They have a lot of favor, it seems—so much success. Their gifting really shines. Or maybe their gifting isn’t that great but supernaturally, somehow, they have so much success and they’re very likable. This is the demonic power upon them making them shine in the world's way. 

But in God’s kingdom, the anointing makes your gifts and your abilities shine so brightly, brighter than any kind of star in the world that comes from demonic powers. And you became an example: “This is the way to go: to follow Jesus, to give your life to Jesus. This life is much better. This life is so much more beautiful.” And you get to be an example for many people, that abundant life or success doesn’t just come in the devil’s way, with sorrow. In God’s way, you can have success and abundant life, but also peace and joy and be in God’s will! And you can actually help people and bring them to Jesus and advance the Kingdom of God. This is the way. 

God wants us to shine so brightly for him, in every way. We are supposed to shine like a big billboard that says, “Following Jesus is the best decision you’ll ever make. Don’t just listen to my words; look at my life. Look at my joy. Look at my health. Look at my peace. Look at the favor, at the doors that have opened. Look at all the adversity, yet it stopped nothing. Look at the victory in my life.” That’s how we shine our lights. That’s what God wants us to do on this earth. To not just think, “I’m doing my duty,” but that our lives would be a shining billboard. We have to really shine for people to get that message. We have to shine in every part of our lives that God wants us to shine, to have abundant life in every aspect. That’s what He wants, but you have to believe that for yourself, and you have to do your part to obey God so He can bless you. 

God blesses the work of your hands, so you have to go to work so that He can bless the work of your hands (Deuteronomy 28:12). God opens the doors when you knock. You can’t be lazy; you have to be serious about your obedience. You have to be diligent. You have to have a good work ethic. You have to work hard for Jesus, and with excellence, and when you do that, He will lift you. He will bless you. He will shock you with the abundant life that He brings you. 

You know, God loves the big stars more. He enjoys the big stars. They make Him smile. They touch His heart. 

It’s time to be a big star. Let your motivation be: “This is what touches God’s heart, for me to shine. I want to touch God’s heart more. I want Him to see my star in the sky, shining so brightly for Him, and I want Him to smile. I want Him to be blessed when He sees that star.” 

God sees everything. He sees all the darkness, and it delights Him to see your light repelling and destroying the darkness. It touches His heart to see your light change the atmosphere. He can see in the spiritual realm. You don’t see a lot of it, but He sees it all. He sees all the seeds you plant. He sees how people are truly starting to seek Him now. They're starting to talk to God now. They’re starting to open their Bibles because of the seeds you planted. He’s now in relationship with somebody because your star was shining brightly. He sees it. We’re just going about our lives, but He’s being touched seeing all these people come to Jesus, seeking Him more because of YOU. They found Him because of YOU! And He looks upon you with love. He looks upon you saying, “Thank you. I’m proud of you. Look at my big star! She’s my big star! He’s my big star!” 

It is so important that this is your greatest motivation: to shine brightly. We should desire to have abundant life and succeed and be blessed in every area, financially, too. We should desire that, but all for God’s glory—all because that pleases Him. Yes, we get benefits from that; we get rewards. But the motivation needs to be, “This is because it touches God’s heart. This is what God wants. This is why I’m striving after abundant life. I’m striving to shine.”

Matthew 2:9-12 

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When your star is shining, you experience this kind of blessing and favor, rewards and giftings, all for the Kingdom. People want to bless you because you have been such a blessing to them. They are moved in their hearts to bless you. This is even how God fills desires of your heart, by moving someone to bless you because they’ve been blessed by you. This is how doors will open when you think, “How are they going to open? I don’t understand how this door will open. I don’t understand how this breakthrough will come.” When you have given your life to bless others, to serve others, to love others, you will reap. It will move people to want to bless you, to love you, to thank you. But as you get those things, they’re for the Kingdom! That’s how God opens doors. This is the sowing and reaping principle. This is how God opens doors. What you sow, you reap (Galatians 6:7).

People will want to bless the work you’re doing, like at 5F Church. The more we commit to the work of God, all of us, the more God will open up doors for more provision to come for the greater things He wants to do. Nothing will be impossible, but we all have to shine brightly. It’s not up to me or just the leaders. The more you shine brightly, the more people will want to bless you. 

One of my spiritual daughters, Lily, shared this testimony with me that she’s going to be serving at Revival is Now São Paulo. All of a sudden, her family members felt moved to pay for her trip, and it shocked her. It didn’t shock me, though, because she’s been serving in the work of God and she’s been loving on her family members, showing them the love of God even when they didn’t receive it at first. Now they are receiving little by little, slowly, the anointing, the revival. But they see that love. They feel that love, it moves them to want to bless her. 

Lily serves so much, and she has served for many years. She does many things behind the scenes—she gives her heart to serving God, to this work of God. She helps so much with our YouTube channel, with editing, and with the podcast. Because of Lily, there are podcasts and YouTube videos released regularly. Thank you, Lily. 

Lily:  

I knew that I wanted to go to a Revival Is Now event, but I didn’t know when I would be going. And it blesses me so much to just see the hunger of people for São Paulo, and I know it’s going to be a monumental move of God. I didn’t want to miss it. I didn’t know how I was going to pay for it, honestly. I used to be the person that could charge my credit card and it was going to get paid off, but I don’t have the finances at this time, and I thought, “What am I going to do?” 

I decided that I was still going to charge it on my credit card, and I told my family “My birthday is coming up, and so is Christmas, and the people in Brazil have such beautiful hearts. If you’d like to contribute towards it, you can.” And it shocked me because immediately, my twin brother, who hasn’t been supportive of God at all, donated $500. And within a few minutes, he donated another $350. And then my mom donated $500 and then she said, “I would like to pay for one of the seats, the $30 seat.” It totally shocked me, and these are just from the text messages I received, and not from my other brothers yet. I’m just so thankful. It’s shocking to see their hearts be open to the move of God, and that’s been my greatest desire above anything else: for them to come into the new wine. 

I keep declaring and thanking God: “Thank you, God, that they’re going to come into the new wine. Thank you that they’re going to come to Five-Fold Church. Thank you, Jesus.” 

Apostle Kathryn: 

Amen! Hallelujah! Thank you, Lily. She also does so much to help me behind the scenes at church here in Los Angeles. When I heard she was coming to serve in São Paulo, I was just so blessed knowing that more excellence could go forth with another laborer. She’s very excellent with her labor. 

This is the example: people can see the anointing upon your life. They can see the supernatural love of God in your life, and so shockingly, they’ll even start blessing you. But it’s for the Kingdom. God will move them because you’re shining! And it moves them to be like the Wise Men and say, “Here, take this! Take this!” And you use it for the kingdom! 

How great is it God?! 

Matthew 2:3-8

When King Herod heard [that the Wise Men were going to worship Jesus] he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Matthew 2:13 

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Your star attracts so much love and favor from others; it causes others to bless you, which is for the purpose of the Kingdom. But also, when you start shining, don't expect everyone to love that you’re shining. It also attracts hate, jealousy, and envy. That’s what happened with Herod. He was envious. He was jealous. He wanted to kill Jesus immediately. 

Remember that Jesus lives in you. This is His work. So the word that comes forth, the miracles that are happening, this is Jesus alive. We are not preaching about a Jesus who died. We’re preaching about a Jesus who died and rose and is alive! This is not my work. This is not our work. This message is not my message. This is God’s message. The ministry time, the prayers, the healings, the deliverance—this is not my work. This is not my ministry. This is God’s work! This is God’s doing. This is God’s ministry. 

So we see the Bible come alive in this regard. We will see present-day Herods come out of the woodwork once we start shining. We’ve seen that happen in this work of God at 5F Church. We’ve seen those modern-day Herods say, “I’m making it my mission to try to stop this ministry.” Just like that was Herod's mission where he sent out his armies and his troops and went to the greatest lengths, killing all the boys around Jesus’ age. So people will make it their mission, like Herod made it his mission. But guess what? Herod had no power to stop the mission of Jesus. He had the greatest worldly power, but our God, King of Kings, has much greater power than the highest power on this earth. He will always trump any kind of power, any kind of effort to try to stop the work of God. There is that favor upon Jesus, as He was rescued and protected, hidden in Africa, in Egypt. These plans that people make to try to stop God’s work are laughable. Herod’s plan sounded scary, and it can sound scary today to hear people’s schemes—their words, their lies, their false accusations. It feels scary, but it’s actually laughable. They can’t stop anything! They can’t stop the work of God! They can’t stop the mission, the assignment God has given us. They can never stop it! Never! 

I remember thinking of this story so often and feeling like I was in the season of being hidden. But I thank God, I can talk now that I’m on the other side of it, since God silenced Herod and said, “You can go back now. Grow and do the ministry. Do the work of God.”

There is a time when we go through the fire. We still keep doing the work of God, but we go through the fire. And it feels like we are being held back, like we are being thrown in a pit, in a prison. But there’s a time when that is over! There’s a time where God arises and the enemies are scattered (Psalm 68:1). Hallelujah!

God has arisen and is arising now in this move of God! 

You don’t need to be bothered by jealousy. You can expect it. People are jealous, they say lies about you, they attack you—but don’t worry! God’s got you! You knew this would come. It’s because you are shining so brightly. No one can stop you from shining! Nobody can stop the work of God that He’s begun in you and through you. Nobody can stop this revival from expanding. Nobody can stop more souls from coming into the Kingdom, from being healed and delivered. Nobody! So don’t worry! Keep going! Stay focused! Keep your joy! Keep praising God! 

Matthew 5:14-16

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The theme of this year’s 5F Church Conference in 2025 in April was “Arise and Shine.” This word was prophetic for the season that we have been in this year. Many of you who have become part of this revival army were oppressed and now you’ve been set free. In 2024, at the Flourish Conference, there was a lot of deliverance from barrenness and stagnancy. But this year, many of you have been free, and it has been time now to let your light shine, to no longer be in the position of receiving deliverance. You’re free! It’s time to shine now! It’s time to lead others into the Kingdom and to be free!

This has been the theme in this year of acceptance. The harvest is very ripe. It’s now time for us to shine like never before. And that’s an action! You can’t just smile, put on make-up, and get a good outfit. No! This is a spiritual action! This is what makes you shine: obeying God in whatever He’s called you to do and serving Him; renewing your mind so you keep your joy, so you show love to others, so you’re kind to others in all circumstances and you smile—but with the love of Christ, not an earthly smile. 

This has been the prophetic theme of this year: to shine your light. We are nearing the end of this year, and the Lord was sharing with me today to share with you: this is not just the theme of the year; this is your life mission! For many of you, this marks your first year of walking in your calling like never before and being really effective. Others of you started earlier, but many of you stopped looking for deliverance this year. You realized you were free, and you realized it was time to give, to love others, to serve the work of God. 

I want to remind you: you must increase your light every day, which should happen naturally as you obey God and renew your mind to your calling to shine your light. As you become closer and closer to God, your star will become bigger and bigger. More and more anointing will then pour upon your life, because God can entrust you with more, as you have continued to be faithful and obedient. 

Every single day, you need to continually renew your mind to: “This is my assignment. Am I walking in my purpose right now? I need to shine my light!” Holy Spirit will lead you from there. Renew your mind to: “I have to shine my light. I have to do good deeds. I have to serve the work of God. Am I being about myself too much? What am I missing?” Then the Holy Spirit will guide you. For the rest of the year and as we are approaching 2026, remember to renew your mind and keep up this mission of shining your light. 

I want to remind you of some key ways to shine your light. We are going to look at examples of some of the characters of this Christmas story. First of all, the shepherds. 

Luke 2:8-20

There were shepherds living out in the field nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The shepherds experienced the supernatural—the power of God. They experienced something nobody had seen before. And they had no fear of man. They told everybody what they had seen. To shine your light, you need to embrace and accept the power of God! You need to be unashamed about the power of God, about the supernatural, about the new thing that God is doing, and stop caring what people think. You need to tell everybody, like the shepherds told everybody about what they had just seen. Tell everybody what you have seen God do! This is how eyes open. This is how you shine your light. God is going to cause you to say these things, and somebody needs to hear it, like, “I saw somebody delivered of depression,” and somebody on your social media or in your workplace were just about to give up on life because of the depression they were in. They were saying, “God, I need a sign, or I am ending it!” And you are simply shining your light, being unashamed about Jesus, not caring what people think. God uses you to save their life and lead them to Him. So be excited and expectant and motivated when you share about the supernatural, the power of God, revival, knowing that God is setting up these divine appointments. People need to hear what you have to say about revival and what Jesus is doing.

The first way to keep shining your light for the rest of this year and beyond is to accept God’s power and be unashamed of it and share it with everybody. Secondly, you need to allow God to stretch your faith. Through the testing of faith, Mary and Joseph became the Bible heroes that we learn from today. Our faith is lifted, our faith grows, and we are encouraged to not give up because of their example. And that’s what God wants to do through your life. God didn’t make it easy for Mary and Joseph. The journey they went on was very hard; they traveled far to go to Bethlehem to take the census. When they got there, there was no place for them—they had to go into a manger outside. And the fact that they weren’t married when she conceived meant that they went through so much attack and persecution and criticism. Then Herod threatened to kill Jesus and they had to go to Egypt, where they didn’t know anybody. God allowed all those things to happen to stretch their faith, so that they could shine brighter—so that they could shine as examples for you and me today. Many of us do not give up because of their example we read about in the Word. The Word of God is God. God is in you. So when you obey God—when you allow Him to take you through the refining fire—you come out brighter and God can be seen more in you. Allow God to stretch your faith—that is how you shine more brightly.

The last way you can shine is by obeying God when it is not easy. The Wise Men obeyed God, and they did something very strange that took a lot of hard work. Many people probably didn’t understand what they were doing—they were giving these precious gifts to some family they didn't even know, and they were following a star in the sky. It’s wild! Nobody would have understood them, but they obeyed God. God is calling you to lose the fear of man and obey God even when it’s not fun. This is how He can use you powerfully. This is how your light will increase.

Lastly, I want to share that your star can be stolen in the spiritual realm because of jealousy. People see your gifting, something they like—they see favor upon your life, and they want it. Through witchcraft, people can steal it. This is the importance of being planted in a church where God’s power is, because this is God’s way of releasing a covering of protection. This is God’s will for every believer—to be planted in a church that has God’s power, that is releasing equipping teachings, so that you know how to keep doors shut to the devil and also for a covering of protection to be over you. That same anointing that your spiritual leader walks in that makes demons go is the same anointing that covers you. It is the protection you need against demonic spiritual attacks and witchcraft powers. Someone who is in a lukewarm church that doesn’t have the power of God might not be around people who are doing witchcraft or they might have been lucky and not come across somebody who is manipulative and doing witchcraft. Maybe they can hear what I’m saying and they don’t understand. But there are a lot of people who have encountered people being used by the devil with demonic powers, doing witchcraft. And Christians have to be equipped. They have to carry the power of God so that those weapons won’t prosper. When you are planted in a church where God’s power is, witches can’t curse you! People can try to steal your star in the spiritual realm, but nothing happens. They can’t do it because of the covering over you and because you are equipped in the spiritual realm. For example, if somebody is trying to manipulate you or is trying to get close to you but God is not calling you to bring them close—it’s dangerous spiritually. So you keep the door shut, because you have been equipped with that. 

There are some people whose star has been stolen. Now they are not experiencing favor in their life. They are not experiencing doors opening up for them. They are experiencing a lot of stagnancy, and they may not know why they’re experiencing so many “no”s, so much rejection that doesn’t make sense. They have a gifting, but it just keeps getting rejected, even when they work hard. That’s a sign that their star in the spiritual realm has been stolen. And today, God is going to restore that star!

If you feel like your star has been stolen, like there’s something blocking you from favor, from doors opening up, from there being “yes”s in your life, speak to God right now. Tell Him that you want your star to shine, that you want your star restored. You want to shine brightly for Him, to lead others to Him.

I declare right now: for every person whose star was stolen, I speak it to be restored now, in Jesus’ name. I declare now that you must shine brightly for Jesus. Nothing can prevent you from shining, in Jesus’ name. People may try to throw mud on you, but that mud will fall off immediately. Nobody can muddy your star, in Jesus’ name. People may try to stop you from doing God’s work. People may try to curse you; they may try to pray against you. They may try to make sacrifices against you, sowing into the devil’s kingdom. Nothing they do can work! Nothing will be effective! Nothing! No curse, no word curse spoken over you can touch you, in Jesus’ name. Nothing can stop God’s plan for your life. Nothing can stop you from shining. No matter what kind of jealous and evil plans and thoughts people have towards you, nothing they can do, think, or say, can stop you from shining or stop God’s plan for your life. 

I speak the mud in the spiritual realm to come off of you. Where people have lied about you, where they have said horrible things about you, I speak that mud, that dirt, to come off you in Jesus’ name. I speak that people would see your light, that they would see the truth about you. 

I speak the light of Jesus to increase in your life. May people see this light and may they be attracted to your light. May they be moved to hear more about Jesus, to come to church, to receive Jesus, the full gospel, in Jesus’ name. Let your light be seen everywhere. Let your light be seen by all your family members. May they see God’s love for you. May they see God’s anointing upon your life.

When you apply for jobs, let the light of Jesus shine through you, and may you have favor. In your business, may the light of Jesus shine upon you. May doors open up. May your business be so blessed. May people be moved to contribute to your business, to be a part of your business, in Jesus’ name.

For your ministry, let your light shine so brightly. May people see the power of God upon your ministry. May they see the love of God upon your ministry. May they be moved to come to your ministry, to contribute to your ministry, in Jesus’ name.